The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has enacted measures to improve airline performance at a time when passengers are facing repeated flight delays and cancelations at the country’s major airports.

The authority has formed an inspection team that will oversee preparations of the air carriers at Tan Son Nhat, Noi Bai, and Da Nang airports in a bid to increase their on-time performance, the CAAV said in a directive signed by its head, Lai Xuan Thanh, on Tuesday.

In the meantime, deputy chief of the CAAV Vo Huy Cuong visited Hanoi-based Noi Bai International Airport and Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport the same day to examine their operations.

In concluding his checks, Cuong said the reasons leading to the flight delays and cancelations of the airlines “will be made public to passengers so that they can determine which carriers to travel with.”

He also urged the airlines to improve on-time performance and ensure the quality of their serving of passengers.

“This will create pressure for the carriers to better their performance,” he said.

Cuong said the airlines should recalculate their expected flying duration to avoid late arrivals.

“The airlines expect that it will take two hours and five minutes to travel from Noi Bai to Tan Son Nhat, included preparation and serving time,” Cuong elaborated.

“But it takes as long as 14 minutes, and up to 30 minutes during busy time, for taxiing, so the schedule can rarely be ensured, resulting in delays.”

Dang Tuan Tu, director of the Tan Son Nhat airport, attributed the repeated flight delays to overloading of the southern terminal.

Tan Son Nhat airport is capable of serving 29 flights per hour during busy time, but the real number of flights it currently has to serve is as many as 33.

“Many airplanes thus have to wait longer on the tarmac to turn around or taxi,” he said.

The terminal has a maximum capacity of receiving 20 million passengers a year, but the threshold was exceeded last year, exacerbating the overload of passengers, he added.

“We are expanding the terminal but construction could only be done part by part to avoid affecting the airport operations,” he said.

However, Cuong from the CAAV said it is too early to conclude on the real reasons behind the late and canceled flights.

The CAAV only began to collect data on flight delays and cancelations on July 13, so it must take time for a more detailed conclusion to be released, he said.

The aviation authority will also work with the Ministry of Defence to open more taxiways and airport aprons at Tan Son Nhat airport to reduce overloading, Cuong added.

The HCMC-based terminal has 47 airport aprons but only 38 of them are in use, with the remainders allocated for emergency landing or overnight parking, according to Tu, the airport director.